Biases In Obsessive-compulsive Disorder Research Articles

Clarifying the thought-action fusion bias in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Studies indicate high levels of thought-action fusion (TAF) in OCD. The current study aimed to determine if people with OCD evaluate others’ thoughts the same way as their own, as existing measures do not test for this distinction. Forty-two non-anxious, 40 OCD, and 41 socially anxious participants completed self-report and behavioral measures of thought-action fusion. Findings indicated that self-report measures of TAF, but not behavioral ones, indicate that people with SAD as well as those with OCD evaluate their own thoughts as more significant/dangerous than they do others’ thoughts. Moreover, although the SAD and OCD groups had similarly elevated scores on the total self-report TAF Scale, analyses of subscales indicated that relative to the other groups, OCD participants had higher scores on the likelihood subscales of the measure. These results were partially supported by the behavioral measure of TAF as well. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the TAF bias in both OCD and other disorders.

Attentional avoidance of threats in obsessive compulsive disorder: An event related potential study

The neural mechanism underlying attentional bias in OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) remains unclear. The goal of this study was to examine and compare the time course and the event related potential (ERP) components in OCD patients and healthy controls (HC) to reveal the complex brain activation pattern associated with attentional bias in OCD. The behavioural and electroencephalogram (EEG) data were recorded while the participants performed an emotional Stroop task. Compared to HC, the individuals with OCD exhibited slower response time, prolonged N1 latency and larger N1 and P2 amplitudes across different emotional words. In addition, we discovered that the OCD group showed an enlarged N1 component to OCD-related threat words compared to neutral words. Moreover, the OCD group had decreased P3 and later positive potential (LPP) amplitudes towards all types of words compared to the HC group. More importantly, the OCD group manifested smaller LPP amplitude to threat words compared to the HC group. Our findings suggest that OCD individuals may excessively direct their attention away from the threat at the late processing stage, probably due to the intensive processing or overestimation of the stimuli in the early automatic processing stage.

强迫症的认知表达与归纳推理的领域特殊性

文章综述了有关强迫症(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD)的病理生理学和认知心理学的研究进展，提出从领域特殊性的角度来理解强迫症的病理机制。通过引证归纳的领域特殊性研究，分析了强迫症认知偏差的领域特殊性特征，并提出假设：强迫症患者的认知偏差可能有两种类型，第一类认知偏差是对任务效价评估的程度误差；第二类认知偏差是对任务类别判断的错误。本研究聚焦于第二类认知偏差的论证。本文最后提出了关于强迫症的第二类认知偏差的实验研究假设：与健康对照相比，1) 强迫症患者在“获利”情景中的信号检查指标：报告标准(C)趋于宽松，分辨率(d’)较低；2) 强迫症患者在“获利”和“避害”两种任务情景中的信号检查指标没有显著差异。 This article reviewed the research progress of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in pathophysiology and cognitive psychology, analyzed the theoretical and practical difficulty from domain- general explanation of OCD, and then suggested approaching the pathophysiological mechanism of OCD from the domain-specificity aspect. By quoting the studies about domain specificity of induction, the domain-specificity characteristics of OCD were discussed and new hypotheses were proposed: there are two types of cognitive bias in OCD: the first is the wrong assessment of the task valence, and the second is the improper classification of task type. The first cognitive bias was widely explored, while the second one was never studied. In the end, this article put forward the experimental hypothesis about the second cognitive bias as follows. In contrast to healthy controls, 1) OCD patients may get looser report-criterion (C) and lower distinguishability (d’) under the condition of Embrace-Advantage; while 2) there may be no significant difference of signal-detec- tion indexes under the conditions of Embrace-Advantage and Resist-Disadvantage for OCD patients.

Individuals With OCD Lack Unrealistic Optimism Bias in Threat Estimation

Overestimating the occurrence of threatening events has been highlighted as a central cognitive factor in the maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The present study examined the different facets of this cognitive bias, its underlying mechanisms, and its specificity to OCD. For this purpose, threat estimation, probabilistic classification learning (PCL) and psychopathological measures were assessed in 23 participants with OCD, 30 participants with social phobia, and 31 healthy controls. Whereas healthy participants showed an optimistic expectation bias regarding positive and negative future events, OCD participants lacked such a bias. This lack of an optimistic expectation bias was not specific to OCD. Compared to healthy controls, OCD participants overestimated their personal risk for experiencing negative events, but did not differ from controls in their risk estimation regarding other people. Finally, OCD participants’ biases in the prediction of checking-related events were associated with their impairments in learning probabilistic cue-outcome associations in a disorder-relevant context. In sum, the present results add to a growing body of research demonstrating that cognitive biases in OCD are context-dependent.

Functional neuroimaging of avoidance habits in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The purpose of this study was to determine the neural correlates of excessive habit formation in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The authors aimed to test for neurobiological convergence with the known pathophysiology of OCD and to infer, based on abnormalities in brain activation, whether these habits arise from dysfunction in the goal-directed or habit system. Thirty-seven OCD patients and 33 healthy comparison subjects learned to avoid shocks while undergoing a functional MRI scan. Following four blocks of training, the authors tested whether the avoidance response had become a habit by removing the threat of shock and measuring continued avoidance. Task-related differences in brain activity in three regions of interest (the caudate, the putamen, and the medial orbitofrontal cortex) were tested at a statistical threshold set at <0.05 (family-wise-error corrected). Excessive habit formation in OCD patients, which was associated with hyperactivation in the caudate, was observed. Activation in this region was also associated with subjective ratings of increased urge to perform habits. The OCD group, as a whole, showed hyperactivation in the medial orbitofrontal cortex during the acquisition of avoidance; however, this did not relate directly to habit formation. OCD patients exhibited excessive habits that were associated with hyperactivation in a key region implicated in the pathophysiology of OCD, the caudate nucleus. Previous studies indicate that this region is important for goal-directed behavior, suggesting that habit-forming biases in OCD may be a result of impairments in this system, rather than differences in the buildup of stimulus-response habits themselves.

Investigation of Attentional Bias in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with and without Depression in Visual Search

Whether Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is associated with an increased attentional bias to emotive stimuli remains controversial. Additionally, it is unclear whether comorbid depression modulates abnormal emotional processing in OCD. This study examined attentional bias to OC-relevant scenes using a visual search task. Controls, non-depressed and depressed OCD patients searched for their personally selected positive images amongst their negative distractors, and vice versa. Whilst the OCD groups were slower than healthy individuals in rating the images, there were no group differences in the magnitude of negative bias to concern-related scenes. A second experiment employing a common set of images replicated the results on an additional sample of OCD patients. Although there was a larger bias to negative OC-related images without pre-exposure overall, no group differences in attentional bias were observed. However, OCD patients subsequently rated the images more slowly and more negatively, again suggesting post-attentional processing abnormalities. The results argue against a robust attentional bias in OCD patients, regardless of their depression status and speak to generalized difficulties disengaging from negative valence stimuli. Rather, post-attentional processing abnormalities may account for differences in emotional processing in OCD.

“Why Am I so Anxious?” A Study of Attention Bias in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Previous research investigating attentional bias has produced intriguingly equivocal results. The present large-scale study explored attentional bias in subjects diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and in a control group (n = 80) using the Emotional Stroop Test. Results clearly indicated poorer performances across the board amongst patients diagnosed with OCD compared to the control group, particularly in the case of anxiety-related stimuli. This paper discusses, in the light of current models of attentional bias towards threat in anxiety disorders, the processes whereby attentional bias towards anxiety stimuli might play a vital role in the causation and maintenance of OCD.

Seleção de estímulos visuais para o Teste de Associação Implícita para o Transtorno Obsessivo-Compulsivo (TAI-TOC)

INTRODUÇÃO: A identificação do viés cognitivo no Transtorno Obsessivo-Compulsivo (TOC) permanece inconclusiva. Uma área de interesse potencial inclui a verificação do processamento visual e desempenho de memória implícita. OBJETIVOS: Selecionar estímulos visuais para inclusão em uma versão do Teste de Associação Implícita (TAI) para o TOC. MÉTODOS: Dezessete pacientes com TOC e 17 controles saudáveis avaliaram 12 estímulos visuais relacionados a diferentes dimensões dos sintomas obsessivo-compulsivos e classificaram os estímulos de acordo com dois critérios: "tipo de impacto" (i.e., positivo, negativo ou neutro) e "grau de impacto" [i.e., 1 (baixo impacto) a 5 (alto impacto)]. Nos testes qui-quadrado e Mann-Whitney, foi utilizado nível de significância de 0.05. RESULTADOS: Pacientes com TOC avaliaram 9 dos 12 estímulos visuais diferente dos controles saudáveis, em pelo menos um dos dois critérios. Discussão: O achado de que as figuras empregadas foram capazes de diferenciar pacientes de controles saudáveis sugere sua inclusão no desenvolvimento de instrumentos de avaliação psicopatológica, como o TAI-TOC.

Attenuation of attention bias in obsessive–compulsive disorder

Cognitive theories of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) suggest that the disorder is characterized by an attention bias towards personally relevant threatening material. However, existing research on attention bias in OCD has yielded conflicting findings. One possibility that might account for the null findings is that attention bias may diminish over the course of the experiment. The present study tested this hypothesis using a visual dot-probe task with idiographic word selection. Results from our study confirmed that individuals with OC symptoms show an attention bias towards idiographically selected, threatening information in the first block of trials, and that the degree of this bias is correlated with the severity of OC symptoms. The temporal pattern of attention bias over the course of the experiment was consistent with our hypothesis. A comparison of early and late blocks of trials revealed an attenuation of attention bias in individuals with OC symptoms, potentially reflecting habituation to threatening information over the course of the experiment.

Words may not be enough! No increased emotional Stroop effect in obsessive–compulsive disorder

Conflicting evidence has been obtained whether or not patients diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) share an attentional bias towards disorder-related stimuli. Some of these inconsistencies can be accounted for by suboptimal stimuli selection. In consideration of the heterogeneity of OCD, we investigated Stroop interference effects for two classes of OCD items (i.e., washing and checking) in 23 OCD patients and 23 healthy controls. In order to cover prevalent OCD concerns, item compilation was based on experts' appraisals. Patients neither displayed greater immediate as well as delayed Stroop interference nor any bias for OCD and subtype-congruent stimuli. On the contrary, for washing-related items, OCD patients, and here especially washers, displayed facilitation relative to healthy controls. Although the present study at first sight refutes the notion of an attentional bias in OCD in contrast to other anxiety disorders, several potential moderators need to be considered before this account is ultimately dismissed. In particular, an attentional bias may only be elicited using visual material that is more attention-grabbing than verbal stimuli. Finally, blockwise instead of random item administration and greater consideration of individual relevance may be crucial prerequisites for the effect to emerge.

Investigation of an attentional bias for fear-related material in obsessive-compulsive checkers

Prior studies on attentional biases in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have yielded conflicting results. Using a new methodology based on a spatial cueing paradigm, it was investigated whether OCD checkers display heightened vigilance for concern-related material or difficulties disengaging from such stimuli. Twenty-eight OCD patients, 21 of whom were checkers, were compared to 27 controls. In the spatial cueing paradigm task, patients and controls responded to a visual target at one out of two possible locations, which was preceded by a verbal cue word presented at the same or at the opposite location of the target. Cue words were either checking-relevant (e.g., doubt), neutral (e.g., box), or paranoia-related (e.g., spy). No evidence for an attentional bias in OCD checkers was found. This study is in accordance with previous studies, which were unable to detect attentional biases in OCD patients.

Disorder-Specific Neuroanatomical Correlates of Attentional Bias in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Hypochondriasis

Attentional bias to disease-relevant emotional cues is considered to be pathogenetically relevant in anxiety disorders. To investigate functional neural correlates and disease specificity of attentional bias across different anxiety disorders. A cognitive and emotional Stroop task, consisting of congruent and incongruent color words, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-related and panic-related negative words, and neutral words, was used in 3 patient groups and a control group during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Academic outpatient department for anxiety disorders. Medication-free patients with OCD (n = 16), panic disorder (PD) (n = 15), and hypochondriasis (n = 13) and 19 controls. Voxel-wise analyses of cerebral blood flow changes for contrasts of interest (incongruent vs congruent color words, OCD-related vs neutral words, and panic-related vs neutral words) within and between groups. During incongruent vs congruent color naming, all patient groups recruited additional posterior brain regions relative to controls, but performance was impaired only in OCD. In OCD, color naming OCD-related, but not PD-related, words correlated with increased activation of frontal-striatal and temporal regions, although performance was unimpaired. In contrast, in PD, increased frontal-striatal involvement was found during color naming both OCD-related and panic-related words. In PD, color naming panic-related words was slowed and correlated with increased activation of the right amygdala and hippocampus. Patients with hypochondriasis showed a similar activation pattern to patients with PD. Our results support the hypothesis of increased distractibility for irrelevant information in patients with OCD, PD, and hypochondriasis associated with frontal-striatal and limbic involvement compared with controls. Although patients with OCD did not display an attentional bias in behavior relative to controls, there was a clear, specific neural response during color naming OCD-related words, involving mainly ventral brain regions. In contrast, generalized emotional interference effects were found in PD and hypochondriasis, involving ventral and widespread dorsal brain regions, reflecting not only unconscious emotional stimulus processing but also increased cognitive elaboration.

The importance of importance in OCD memory research

Investigations of memory and associated phenomena in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can advance our understanding of this often debilitating problem. Theoretical models predict both the presence and absence of memory biases in favour of threat-relevant information in association with anxiety disorders generally, and with OCD specifically. Two previous experiments (one involving compulsive washing and another involving compulsive checking) that demonstrated such a memory bias are reviewed in the context of the existing literature. Additionally, a new experiment failing to demonstrate such a bias (in association with compulsive ordering and arranging) is presented. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive-behavioural and information processing approaches to understanding OCD. It is argued that experiments which utilize stimuli that are low in ecological validity are unlikely to detect explicit memory biases in OCD. As such, experimental paradigms that are perceived as particularly significant, relevant and important to participants with OCD are encouraged.

The importance of importance in OCD memory research

Investigations of memory and associated phenomena in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can advance our understanding of this often debilitating problem. Theoretical models predict both the presence and absence of memory biases in favour of threat-relevant information in association with anxiety disorders generally, and with OCD specifically. Two previous experiments (one involving compulsive washing and another involving compulsive checking) that demonstrated such a memory bias are reviewed in the context of the existing literature. Additionally, a new experiment failing to demonstrate such a bias (in association with compulsive ordering and arranging) is presented. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive-behavioural and information processing approaches to understanding OCD. It is argued that experiments which utilize stimuli that are low in ecological validity are unlikely to detect explicit memory biases in OCD. As such, experimental paradigms that are perceived as particularly significant, relevant and important to participants with OCD are encouraged.

Examining the Evidence for Anxiety-Related Cognitive Biases in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

In light of current concerns about the diagnostic classification of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), this article critically examines recent experimental research on anxiety-related cognitive biases in OCD in order to determine whether it provides grounds for OCD’s differentiation from other anxiety disorders. This small body of work is found to be fraught with defects, anomalies, and inconsistencies. These findings contrast dramatically with the robust results obtained with other clinical anxiety disorders. When biases are in evidence it tends to be with a select group of subjects, that is, those with contamination concerns. It is suggested that only this subtype of OCD, or some core characteristic underlying it, may be associated with cognitive tendencies comparable to those found in other anxiety disorders (i.e., biases at the attentional level associated with the emotional tone, or content, of information). Cognitive tendencies in other subtypes likely require different explanatory frameworks. This review provides evidence for the partial uniqueness of OCD from other anxiety disorders.